Mine Sweeping
by MangKulas
Summary: In which, the story of a precog and a vassal of the Vatikan, the House of God which condemns all forms of psychictry as demonic possession, are told. Inspired by breadsticks' tale, "Psychic Training." Yaoi. Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Eyeshield 21.
1. Chapter 1

AN: This is a spin-off from the alternate universe that breadsticks created in Psychic Training. But it happens in the fandom of Eyeshield 21, instead of Katekyo Hitman Reborn. Not quite a cross-over, but almost. Thanks, breadsticks. I was blown away the first time I read that fic and here's the ode to that fic and to you as a writer who entertains. Too bad you haven't finished it (cough, cough), but since this story might parallel yours, here's to being pressured to finish it. Yes, it is a competition. What is the use of being siblings, if we did not have sibling rivalry?

-0-

**CHAPTER 1: Wherein the decree of Vatikan der Gottes is handed down to the D****ӓ****mon. Wherein the D****ӓ****mon are forced to partner up with the Um der Ritter. And whereby, Hiruma, D****ӓ****mon Oberhaupt, ensures that they get their way, anyway.**

-0-

Being a mine-sweeper was dangerous business. But by the same token, it had caught the imagination of the city-states and now shared the glory that Um der Ritter – the white knights, the elite police unit of Abaddon – once held.

Of course, the term "mine-sweeper" was not the term that citizens of Abaddon had created. No, that was coined by their hated upstart raucous neighbors down south in Spiral City.

Misrepresenting and certainly, misleading, said Vatikan der Gottes, the ruling state and church of Abaddon, with icy disdain. According to the records of Vatikan der Gottes (which must be the truth since the Vatikan had said it so), the official name of the mine-sweepers was Schergen des Gottes. But the name they called themselves, their secret name, the name whispered on the streets, was Dӓmon – the demon.

-0-

Sena felt like something was wrong. They had a reliable pattern. If you had a 1-2-1 in the tile grid, it definitely meant that there was a mine in both 1's.

Taki flagged the 1's and was about to press the 2.

"Wait, Taki." His hand came up.

"What is it, monsieur?" His hand hovered. His blond hair fell on his greased face like wisps. They were in front of the puzzle lock of the pretend-Door, the Schilds surrounding them. Above them, stone angels frowned on walls and on pillars of the cavernous cathedral.

"There's a bomb in the 2, not in the 1's."

"Eh? That can't be. Then there would be two bombs beside the 1's."

"I know. That's—" And Sena felt stuck, unable to explain himself.

"Oy, what's the hold up?" The voice sounded tinny, but it was merely the metallic suits of the Schilds in the Dӓmon squad. The codebreakers, the Decoder, could still hear them, though. As now, Sena and Taki could hear Kuroki's irritation.

"Monsieur, I'm pretty sure that I've correctly identified the flags?"

"It's true," Kurita sounded worried, even through the metal suit, "even us Schilds know this pattern."

Sena's hand fell away, "O-okay." He took a deep breath. "Let's go for it."

Taki pressed on the 2 tile. There was a click, and a whirring sound. And Sena and Taki looked at each other.

"Watch OUT!" Juumonji roared.

-0-

Everything exploded.

The blast was hard enough to throw them off their feet. It was the sort that sucked sound from its surroundings and then threw it back out in a roar to rupture eardrums.

Sena _was_ thrown off his feet. About 10 feet into the air. And he landed _hard_. And smoking. As in smoke was rising from his skin. Like he'd just been broiled.

And that was with the Schilds surrounding them for this codebreaking exercise.

Sena Kobayakawa coughed, a cloud of ashes actually emerging from his mouth. He thought, inanely, that theashes looked pretty against the light_. _The suspended dust motes seemed to dance in the slanted shafts of light from the broken windows of the cathedral.The contrast of deep shadows and the light certainly recalled to mind the heavens.

The humongous cathedral, where practice was being held, was quiet for a moment before the confused cries erupted from the Dӓmon team.

"What the hell was that?" gasped Kuroki. "We had the right code. There couldn't have been a bomb above 2, with 1's beside it."

A rapid-fire of gunshots filled the air. And when the smoke cleared, their Oberhaupt came out grinning like a demon. "That was to get you guys used to the feel of a blast."

And the Dӓmon sweepers all realized it at the same time. The puzzle had been rigged to explode, and the bombs were all put in the wrong places.

"Huh!"

"HUH!"

"HUUUH!"

Musashi coughed, shaking his mohawked head. "You're pretty fucking nuts." But you could tell he was amused.

Sena whispered to Taki, "He's a pretty scary captain."

The taller blonde man twirled, "Ah, but he is brilliant. Just like me."

"WHAT, IN THE NAME OF GOD, IS HAPPENING HERE?!" The Dӓmon squad all looked off into the far side of the cathedral, where doors had been opened. And standing there was a young woman in the priestly robes of the vater, looking aghast.

The sweepers looked at one another, faces becoming serious. But not because of the vater. They didn't know who the hell she was. It was what was behind her that held their attention.

Beyond her, the Dӓmon could see an orderly column of knights in their metal-plated golems standing soberly in the sun. There was a white banner fluttering in the breeze. They all knew that banner even if they couldn't see the sigil. It was the Um der Ritter. The White Knights.

-0-

This is the goal: to find the empty squares and avoid the mines. The ultimate goal is to open the Door. But to open the Door, you needed to decode the puzzle-lock. Decoding the puzzle-lock meant flagging all the mines, all the tiles that could detonate the bomb.

This is how the puzzle-lock looks like. Depending on the Automat that created the code, it could be:

-a 9x9 tile grid, hiding 10 mines,

-a 16x16 tile grid, 16 mines,

-a 16x30 tile grid, 99 mines,

-or the rare 21x21 tile grid, 100 mines. This was the hardest puzzle. Reaching mythical proportions.

There are endless patterns that could be arranged. It would take much, much longer to decode if you ran it through probability and statistics. However, if you turned a tile over, and found a group of empty squares, it would give you patterns of numbers. And the numbers told you where the mines were. Of course, that meant you had to turn over a tile that did not have a mine. In the 21x21 puzzle, turning over the first tile almost always, hit a mine.

-0-

Vater Mamori Anezaki laid down her cup of tea with an audible _thunk_ and eyed the Schergen des Gottes Oberhaupt with an unsmiling mouth. "I've seen the way you treat your mine-sweepers, Oberhaupt. Someone could have been killed earlier. You should be thankful that this was the only decree you received from the Vatikan."

The Oberhaupt yawned, and made a poor attempt to disguise it.

Undeterred, she leaned forward, almost nose to nose with the Oberhaupt, "because if it was me, I would have…"

"Would have what? Disbanded us?" The Oberhaupt's voice remained a lazy drawl, as his hand slid into his pocket for a little black book.

She sighed, and leaned back, "No, why would I do that? Your work is important. But I would have certainly suspended your underground license for three months."

The expression on the face of Yoichi Hiruma, Oberhaupt of the Schergen des Gottes, changed a hair, his eyes deepening. But it was gone in almost an instant. Instead, he leaned back, and stuck his pinky in his ear and scratched, looking for all the world like he was...bored.

The Vater's eyes narrowed. It was all she could do not to grit her teeth. She took a deep breath. "The Vatikan only seeks to assist. The knights of Um der Ritter have been assigned to provide assistance to the Schergen des Gottes underneath the city, as you break down the Doors."

"Of course, of course. A 'civil servant' from the Vatikan and those prancing pretty knights just know all about minesweeping. We bow to down to your expertise."

"There is no need for sarcasm, Oberhaupt. I am not about to make judgments without studying the matter at hand," the Vater said crisply, pink spots blooming in a face, contrasting with her black robes.

The Oberhaupt's eyes gleamed, "Would you bet your life on that?"

Vater Mamori eyed him warily, choosing not to answer.

He cackled, "So you don't know anything about it."

Mamori's straightened angrily, "Schergen des Gottes. More popularly known as the minesweepers, or Red Caps, also calling themselves Dӓmon. People call you minesweepers because they think that you're disabling landmines to ensure the safety and security of the city. But of course, that's not really a lie; it's just not the entire truth. Those mines, after all, are the booby traps attached to the Doors in the Old City, underneath Abaddon. What you really are is a specialized intelligence network of the Vatikan, whose primary objective is to gain access to the Quelle, the lost energy source of Abbaddon. You are essentially codebreakers. Keyholders to the locks. It's just, for the Schergen des Gottes, the wrong key means the end."

The Oberhaupt raised an eyebrow, "That's just brilliant. You have all the reference book knowledge the Vatikan has. Of course, you can make all the decisions you want for the Schergen des Gottes." He stood up, finished with the conversation, and walked away.

Vater Mamori stood up, angry, "hold it right there! You don't think I understand? I do. I understand the fear that the future of this whole city, whatever the political posturing, is riding on whether you can make it past the codes of those Doors. I understand that in the end, only the sweepers are left standing to decode and a wrong number can kill them. I understand that. You don't need to carry that burden alone on your shoulders. Which is why you need this. The knights do your bidding underneath the city and can protect you from the blast."

At that, the Oberhaupt stopped in his tracks. "They do our bidding?" he said, without turning around.

And somehow, the Vater knew that he was smiling, even if she could not see his face.

-0-

Below on the practice grounds of the cathedral, the knights had come in from outside and had stepped out of their Golem Suits with the orders to stand down. And on one side, the Dӓmon sweepers were lined up, eyeing the knights and on the other side, the knights were also lined up looking back at the minesweepers.

Sena had dusted himself off, but had kind of wished he just went off to what they laughingly called their clinic. He was shaking in his boots and it certainly wasn't from excitement. One of the knights, who was close to a craggy golem face himself, was particularly watching him closely.

He had an idea, of course, that this might happen. Vatikan der Gottes held the position that any psychic ability was a sign of demonic possession.

And wasn't that ironic? Because the specialized intelligence agency of the Vatikan, Schergen des Gottes, actually had a psychic. And his name was Sena Kobayakawa.

End of Chapter 1


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Wherein Sena Kobayakawa, D****ӓmon Decoder,**** meets Shin Seijuuro, White Knight. Wherein the pranks of D****ӓ****monen start a hidden war in the City of Abbaddon. Wherein the mysterious Drachen show themselves.**

-0-

In the city of Abaddon,

While the grimy street urchins ran through cobbled, misty streets, dimly lit by the faint golden lamplights,

While poor widows stitched in the flickering light of electronic eel lights,

While the factory workers in the smoking square stone buildings labored to build Golem Suits, Horseless Carriages, Water Underships, and the Steel Horses,

While the nobility danced waltzes in their brilliant ballrooms,

While men in rooms talked about the declining market and the inflation of energy,

There was a war going on.

Admittedly, it had been started because of Kuroki's hot temper. It did not help that the Dӓmonen were fiercely prideful. It also did not help that the Oberhaupt explained little, only cackling and leaving with a, "Damn brats, these will be your new bodyguards against the blast." And promptly marched them off into training into the already-explored parts of the Old City. Now, they had Doburoku as an overseer. But the knights had their own overseer. And apparently, Doburoku and the Um Der Ritter overseer had their own history to work through.

So, this is how there came to be a secret war underneath the City of Abaddon, between the Schergen Des Gottes and the Um Der Ritter.

-0-

For some reason, Jumonji seemed to always steal Sena away every time the craggy-faced knight would approach him.

They had split up into three teams, since there were 3 pure Decoders in the Dӓmon squad. Ingenieur Yukimitsu, who studied the Old City and could mostly correctly estimate where the Doors where, went with one team. Monta, who entered Dӓmon, was a Sucher or a seeker, who grew up as part of the homeless youth running around the Old City. Taki, who was both a Sucher and a Decoder, went into the third team. They divided all the Schilds, which included Um Der Ritter now, into the three teams.

Jumonji had been assigned into Sena's team. As well as the craggy-faced knight. And every time the knight attempted to talk to Sena, Jumonji would casually step in between. Whether it had been at the welcoming of Um Der Ritter at dinner or showing them where to store their Golem Suits, or showing them to their beds, Jumonji was there. And Sena felt the knight's eyes on him all the time.

It was quite unnerving to be the focus of that sharp-eyed gaze.

Now, however, Jumonji was on a supply run.

And the knight was approaching.

"Sena Kobayakawa."

It was a statement, not a question.

Sena cleared his throat noisily. Even if it had been strange, he had been grateful for Jumonji's interference. He didn't think Jumonji knew about him being a psychic, but distance from _all_ the Um Der Ritter only helped. Helped keep his secret. "Yes. Uh, I'm sorry I didn't catch your name."

"I didn't say it." He said, without inflection.

Sena blinked. "Ah, right, of course. What's your name?"

"Shin Seijuro, Lanze der Ritter."

"Sena Kobayakawa, Decoder von den Schergen Gottes."

"You are not a usual Decoder."

Sena blinked once more. Technically, Shin's statement was true. Decoders were also well-built. Musashi and Taki were good decoders. They could pick out patterns, but could withstand blasts. Suchers and Ingenieurs didn't have to be well-built, they found Doors, and stood back before any of the blast happened. Sena wet his lips. "Ah, didn't grow up to all of this. Didn't grow up training as one." He mumbled as he looked down and pushed around food on his plate. _Nope, he certainly had not grown up on any of this. Just got scooped up after some shady man with geckos in his hat pointed him out to Hiruma. In the district of Whitechapel, where life was scrabble-hard and the Undesirables of society lived: the thieves, the prostitutes, and the dark-skinned refugees of the deserts. _

"No," The abrupt tone had Sena looking up at the knight who was looking at him as trying to bore through his skill, "Your muscles are not built to withstand the blast. You are not the usual Decoder," repeated Shin.

"A-hh," sweat was forming in Sena's armpits, and it seemed to him that seconds agonizingly ticked by as he stared into Shin's eyes. Sena's eyes flicked away, his mouth opening slightly, breathing shallowly.

Something crashed.

Sena jumped up, looking around wildly_._ Shin was already on his feet, his eyes turning to the source of the crash. The sound had stopped all conversations in the room.

Ikari, one of the White Knights, was holding up Kuroki against the stone wall. "WATCH WHAT YOU SAY, FILTHY DOG."

Kuroki snarled.

Sena sighed. For more reasons than one. Relief. And exhaustion. Whenever Jumonji wasn't around, Kuroki had an even harder time controlling his temper. And for some reason, stopping fights had become Sena's job. Sena stood up. Gratefully and regretfully.

The knight was dangerous.

The knight was dangerous because he _was _a knight. And also because his intensity held you and refused to let go.

The knight was dangerous because he was too interesting by half.

-0-

That night, Kuroki peppered the joints of Ikari's Golem Suit with sand.

-0-

As the Dӓmonen and the Um Der Ritter began to blearily come into the hall, slowly putting on their respective suits, preparing oxygen packs, checking their lanterns, a sudden creaking got everyone's attention.

Ikari was moving strangely. He was in his Golem Suit, eyes wide, his elbows at 90 degree angles. He was attempting to move his arms, but he could only move them like an Automaton.

Togano pressed play on the mobile music box, and beeping techno music came, as he and Kuroki went behind Ikari and started dancing the Automaton, limbs and joints stiffly moving. Ikari was yelling at them as he turned around, creaking and looking for all the world, like he was dancing himself.

Laughter burst out from the room. The minesweepers laughed and laughed.

The Dӓmonen received three days of penalty. The Vater Mamori oversaw their punishment of intense prayers.

But it continued.

-0-

Gushiken, one of the White Knights, ground red chilli peppers and sprinkled them on Dӓmonen toothbrushes. The Um Der Ritter all had stone faces –to keep themselves from laughing—as the Dӓmonen screamed hell down in the communal bathrooms that night. Except Shin. He was just stone-faced. Period.

-0-

Monta and Taki sniffed out false Doors attached to the city sewers, and at a signal, had the Dӓmonen pull over raincoats as the mines exploded, leaving the White Knights splattered in brown, stinky crap.

-0-

"This has got to stop, Oberhaupt." Vater Mamori had her hands on the table, her eyes fiery. But the effect seemed lost on Hiruma, who was leaning back against his chair, feet up on the table, hands behind his head.

"No," said the Oberhaupt, "It's the perfect scenario. It doesn't seem like it, but it will build them. Pending another event."

Mamori's eyes furrowed, her forehead shadowed by her wimple. "What do you mean?"

Hiruma lifted his legs and rolled his wooden and rattan chair away. He looked at the window, where a bloated moon shined down on them, through metal bars encased in stone blocks. "Have you ever heard of the Drachen?"

There was no answer.

Curious, Hiruma turned back. And understanding dawned. "Of course," he said with satisfaction, "you know the Drachen. You must know them. This city, once so great, now, simply a great mass of it dying, while the few enjoy the energy source that fuels the Horseless Carriages, the Water Underships and Steel Horses."

The Vater looked at the window behind Hiruma, "I became a vater, Oberhaupt, because of the poverty in the streets." She restlessly began to move around. "Children's faces pressed up against the Horseless Carriages every day. Women with babies asking me for help. The sickness. The death. I found that the poverty would not go away with a hot meal and shelter for the night. It's roots are much deeper. Even deeper than the Old City."

"So, you know the energy has become finite?"

The Vater looked at him squarely, "I'm not stupid. This is why the Vatikan is building more units like the Dӓmonen, putting together more people with less independence. The Drachen is amassing the energy."

"Hoarding it," Hiruma corrected.

And Mamori smiled at him, "And do you all plan to be the heroes who will take it back for the people?"

Hiruma's eyebrows rose, "Who said I'd take it back to give it away? I plan on winning it all."

-0-

In the city of Abaddon,

While the grimy street urchins ran through cobbled, misty streets, dimly lit by the faint golden lamplights,

While poor widows stitched in the flickering light of electronic eel lights,

While the factory workers in the smoking square stone buildings labored to build Golem Suits, Water Underships, and the Steel Horses,

While the nobility danced waltzes in their brilliant ballrooms,

While men in rooms talked about the declining market and the inflation of energy,

There was a war going on.

The dreadlocks flowed out in the wind. The man in a cape dusted off his hands. "Trash." He said under his breath. He boarded the waiting Horseless Carriage.

"Wasn't that a little too much?" The short man said on the inside.

"No, Ikkyu. Talentless trash is talentless trash."

-0-

End of Chapter 2


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Wherein the D****ӓ****mon finds out about the existence of new minesweeping teams and heads to a tournament. Wherein Sena hears about the Ultimate Puzzle-lock. Wherein Sena is unmasked.**

**-0-**

"_Training is over_. _And so are the fun and games." The Oberhaupt said, chewing on paraffin wax gum. The Oberhaupt let his mouth stretch into a sneer that looked truly frightening in the light of the flickering candles around them. "Prince Charming, it turns out, is a player. And he's asking all of the princesses to dance."_

_At the confused looks of the people in the group, the Vater Mamori glared at the Oberhaupt. Shogun merely shook his head, while Doboroku motioned with his jug at the Vater to step forward and explain. And so the Vater did, sweeping the room with her eyes, she began in a voice that carried, "The Vatikan has determined that efforts to complete the hunt for the Quelle will be expanded with the formation of new minesweeping teams to share the name of the Schergen des Gottes."_

_At the murmurs that started to arise from the team, from Kuroki's "_What are we? Chopped liver?"_ to little Daikichi's strongman grunts, the Oberhaupt grabbed at his pistol and shot it into the murky depths of their underground training hall. He glared them all into silence. _

_Vater took a deep breath and continued, "The current Schergen des Gottes, of the informally-known D__ӓ__mon and Um der Ritter, Unit 40, are thanked for their service and are bid to come to the Abyss for a tournament: the Bombe Entschärfung Turnier_._ The Vatikan expects the current Schergen des Gottes to become the standard to which new teams shall aspire to._"

"_Takami, what the hell does this mean?" Sakuraba, a blonde-haired knight, whispered in the rear. _

"_You're not the only one wondering," came the murmured reply._

-0-

Sena glanced at the Dӓmonen sitting all around him in various states of sleep and boredom. He could not help looking over his shoulder, as well, at the White Knights, at Shin.

He ducked his head when Shin looked his way.

Of course, he wasn't even sure that it _was_ Shin. All the Um der Ritter had donned their golem suits, massive silver metal and white clay armor with jutting pipes in the back that spewed steam and occasionally made the knights look as if they had wings of clouds. Their faces were all obscured by their gas-mask helms with small rectangles for their eyes. And the Um der Ritter were not the only ones who had their faces obscured.

Everyone on the Iron Horse – the fond nickname of Abaddonians for the steam-powered train that went into the deeper underground levels of the Old City – were wearing masks. From beaked plague masks of doctors to the monstrous, elephantine-tubed masks of the workingmen, one actually couldn't see faces. Even the lords and ladies had delicate head contraptions of gears and glass, while the poorest of the poor had their homemade masks of 32 layers of muslin cloth and goggles. Sena, himself, had a rabbit-faced gas mask, with the ruber rabbit ears flopping over his face. Monta had assured him that it was a sufficiently cheap and decent mask and would go well with his own monkey-faced gas mask, and they could be partners, like in the story. Although the Oberhaupt had cackled and had said, _What's this idiot saying? Wasn't it the hare and the turtle in the story? And weren't they enemies?_

Thinking of the Oberhaupt, however, reminded him of where he was going. Sena looked ahead, where the Vater and the Oberhaupt were seated. Their captain was still easily identifiable, despite his simple black gas mask. He had his portable memory device out, and he was busily typing, the clacking of the blinking eye-keys the only sound that could be heard in their train car. The Vater, herself, in her black frock, wimple, and face-glass dome, was quietly reading.

Bombe Entschärfung Turnier.

Sena shifted uneasily. The Tournament. Or more precisely, the Minesweeping Tournament.

Sena dropped his face onto his hands.

He was much happier doing actual, useful work with the Dӓmon. Like when they were mapping the Old City and looking for the mythic Quelle. Like when they actually found some energy on the way. Not this.

Sena still could not believe it. The Vatikan had formed seven new minesweeping teams out of the other armed forces and asked them to compete! The Vatikan was practically conducting a job interview and an employee evaluation at the same time. After the meeting had broken up, all of the boys had naturally met up in their rooms, three or four or five at a time, and gossiped worse than any of the older churchwomen after Sunday mass.

Was it a slap at the Oberhaupt? He'd never been very cooperative with the Vatikan or with any authority, for that matter. Or had something happened that made the Vatikan uneasy? Like all the rumors of men turning into monsters from their crazy neighbors down south in Spiral City? Or did the Vatikan find more information about the Quelle?

Every day, energy prices were getting higher anyway.

Everybody had a theory. And Sena thought the only one he saw that night who wasn't preoccupied with the news was Shin Seijuro. When Sena passed by their training room, he saw Shin training by himself. And watching Sena again.

-0-

The tournament was to take place in the lower levels of the underground Old City, beneath Abbaddon, levels that had already been cleared by the past and present Schergen des Gottes. See, if Spiral City built upward, Abbaddon built down to the earth's core.

The levels of the Old City went as followed: Sheol, Gehenna, Tartarus, and the Abyss. The Vatikan had already started to rehabilitate Gehenna and Sheol to house the minesweeping team participants, Abaddonian citizens and visitors from other City-States attending the tournament.

The actual minesweeping tournament would take place in the Abyss. Far below the spectators to protect anyone who might get caught in the blast.

The whistle train blew and the conductor's voice came over the scratchy horn in the wall.

"This is the last stop in the Abaddon Line to Old City. Please disembark and take all your belongings with you."

The Dӓmon and Um Der Ritter began to stand up and stretch, gathering their belongings and moving towards the exits. Whispers followed them. As they stepped out of the train, they crowded and jostled against people, voices echoing back and forth in the cavernous space of Gehenna. The ceiling of this level reached so far up that it was shrouded in darkness. The electric torchlights and streetlamps of Gehenna could not pierce the shadows above.

And Gehenna lay before them in all its glory.

An island mass underneath the earth, surrounded by an abyss and connected to the train station by land bridges that led to the northern and southern parts of the district, like veins branching off from an artery.

Dӓmon and Um Der Ritter members became separated as they obtained their luggage and moved to the lobby of the station to obtain a Flyer or to hire a Horseless Carriage. Sena ended up being separated from Monta, as well, but was left with the Vater.

"Ah, we're lost," said the Vater as she craned her neck, looking for their companions.

"That's not a good omen," muttered Sena. "We should just meet everyone on the other side of town, Vater?"

The Vater looked down at Sena, "Sure," she said after a moment, sighing.

She looked around her at the crowd that still had not thinned. "I'm sure the Oberhaupt and the team will get to the inn eventually. We might as well just meet them there. We might also be able to get messages out to them. It'll be hard to get a carriage, though. It's rush hour."

"Why don't we walk?" Sena suggested. "The bridge leading to the other side of town leads there."

The Vater nodded and they began to allow themselves to flow with the river of humanity and Horseless Carriages that went through the thoroughfare leading to the center of the city. At a certain point in the land bridge, when it branched off to the northern and southern parts of Gehenna, the crowds thinned till the Vater and Sena all but owned the bridge as they walked in the middle of the road.

They were both quiet as they walked side-by-side. Sena, strangely feeling comfortable. He stole a look at the Vater who was serenely ambling with her satchel and bag. He should feel worried. The Vater, for all intents and purposes, was the face of the Vatikan placed among Schergen des Gottes to watch them.

However, Sena felt that she, rather than spying on them, was rather an advocate, an angel, if you will, for a bunch of unrepentant devils.

She caught him looking. "Are you nervous?" She asked, smiling, looking all the more kindly because the glass dome did not hide her face, framed in her habit.

Sena's eyebrows climbed, "nervous? About what, Vater?"

She shrugged, "The tournament, of course. Even if the Dӓmon are the true Schergen des Gottes, you'll be up against extremely capable and frightening armed units of the Vatikan's army. And as a Decoder, a lot rests upon your shoulders. You are, shall we say, the key to victory."

Sena shrugged. "I trust my team," he said simply.

The Vater was quiet for a moment. She shook her head. "I should have known. Of course, the team members of Dӓmon are not ordinary. Why else would your Oberhaupt change so much?"

"What do you mean?" Sena curiously asked. "Did you know the Oberhaupt before?"

She smiled. "I knew _of _him. But anyway, it's good that you are not nervous. I actually think that your team would have the best chance of defeating the Ultimate Puzzle-lock."

Sena privately thought that the way the Vater had changed topics distinctly felt like a door had been slammed in his face. There was a lot behind that door. But he merely nodded, and followed the turn of the conversation. "I've heard of that term bandied about among the older members of Dӓmon, but they never tell me what it is."

"Ah," the Vater launched into a lecturing tone. "The Ultimate Puzzle-lock. It seems almost a story, if not for the historical documents that prove its existence. It is said to be the final barrier, and the most difficult one to the Quelle. It is said that a river of blood and guts has washed the Puzzle-lock. From the many minesweepers that have reached it and failed to unlock it," she finished softly.

Sena shivered. "But that doesn't make sense. _We're _still mapping the Abyss, so how could minesweepers in the past have reached it."

The Vater smiled down at him, "You don't understand, Sena. The nature of the puzzle-locks is that every one of them could possibly be the Ultimate one. The lock moves, Sena. It moves around in the Abyss."

And that made Sena's insides go cold. "H-how?"

The Vater shrugged, "Well, all the puzzle-locks, you see grids that are different in sizes, from the 9 by 9 to the 21 by 21. But really, if you look closely, each one has a potential to be 21 by 21." And then she began in almost a sing-song voice, "_Twenty-one by twenty-one, where no one ever won. Sing me a tune, tell me a rhyme, for the first is always a mine." _She looked back down at him. "I'm surprised you never heard that from the children's games they play in the streets."

"I've heard," Sena muttered, "I just never knew it meant the puzzle-locks."

The Vater nodded. "Yes, the 21 by 21, where the first tile you turn is almost always a mine. And hence, the blood. Hence, the guts. A river of blood to wash the puzzle-lock. Isn't that why you never see any 21 on the medical ward rooms or building numbers? It came from that. It's considered unlucky."

Sena swallowed. And they both fell quiet, each lost in their own thoughts.

From the other side of the bridge, a man was also walking in the middle of the road. And he seemed to take up more space than a crowd, merely from the arrogance that radiated in the way he walked, in the way he held his head, and in the predatory way he watched them come his way.

The Vater and Sena tacitly stepped to the side to walk around him as they passed the man, and Sena could have sworn that they had already walked past him, but he was suddenly _just there, _in front of them. Blocking them. And they stood in his shadow, looking up at a face that was thrown into ominous shadow by the lamplight. Sena could have sworn he could still see the frightening smile, even in the shadowed face.

"Lost, are you?" The man _purred_. Like a mountain lion with blood still dripping from its teeth and new prey now sighted.

The Vater gave a start. "N-no, sir. In fact, we were just trying to pass by you."

The man peered down at both of them, still grinning. "But you both look lost," and his blatant carnal interest made Sena shudder. He said nothing and merely pulled Vater Mamori to the side and to walk past him again.

And again, Sena didn't even see it happen. The man was _simply _there again. Sena frowned. Was this man…cursed with ability, as well?

"That's not very nice. I'm trying to help you, little rabbit."

Vater Mamori, ridiculously, pulled Sena behind her. "We don't want to inconvenience you, sir, but we must simply go."

The man loomed over them. "But all I want to do is help you. My name is Agon. Agon Kongo." And he reached out to them.

He was extremely surprised to find that he was clutching at empty air.

Twice more, he tried reaching for them, but for one reason or another, Sena had pulled Mamori precisely in the spot where his hand _would not be_. He growled, and with a speed that shocked Sena, Agon Kongo had a hand around Sena's throat and was lifting him off the ground.

"You should let him go," a voice behind him said.

Agon swung around, still holding Sena, and there stood Shin Seijuuro. In his white armor.

"Well," Agon chuckled, "the White Knights. You here for the tournament, too?"

"Let him go." Shin repeated, dangerously.

From behind Shin, Sena could see the Oberhaupt grinning like a madman, cackling.

"Agon." Another voice.

When Agon turned, a bald man wearing the same tunic as he was, was waiting for him pointedly.

Agon made a sound of disgust and threw Sena down. "Trash," he muttered.

Sena, shaking like a leaf, stood up with the Vater's help. But as soon as they saw Agon and the bald men go, the Oberhaupt unceremoniously pushed Sena to Shin. He pulled at the Vater and was beginning to ask her questions in a furious whisper that all began with _fucking vater_.

Poor Sena, he was not much recovered when Shin easily scooped him up in his arms as they walked to their inn. Both of them said nothing.

Sena wished that it had remained that way. For when Shin set him down in his room, he paused on his way out and said, "You will fight with me in the morning."

"What?"

Shin's eyes bored into him, "You will fight with me in the morning, psychic."

And then, he was gone.

Sena collapsed into his bed, knowing now, he would never get any sleep.

-0-

The End of Chapter 3


	4. Chapter 4

AN:

MINESWEEPING VOCABULARY

_Oberhaupt:_ Captain (Hiruma)

_Vater:_ Priest/ess (Mamori)

_Vatikan:_ The state and the church of Abaddon

_Um der Ritter_: The White Knights, the police of Abaddon

_Schergen des Gottes:_ The Hand of God, the minesweepers, originally had the nickname of Dämon. A unit of the Um der Ritter was added to them, under Hiruma's direction. Now, may have more arms from other parts of the Vatikan military that will be directly under the Vatikan, pending the Minesweeping Tournament.

_Bombe Entschärfung Turnier_: The Minesweeping Tournament. A mysterious move by the Vatikan.

_Quelle_: A mythical energy source that lies in the dark belly of the Old City, guarded by puzzle-locks that are rigged to explode if not solved properly.

_Decoder_: The ones who solve the puzzle-locks.

_Schild_: The ones who protect the decoders and who act as walls or shields from explosions.

**-0-**

**Chapter 4**: **Wherein Shin and Sena fight. Wherein a surprise awaits Shin and Sena. Wherein the tournament begins. Wherein disaster strikes and the Oberhaupt and the Vater are called away. **

**-0-**

Understand this, Shin Seijuro seeks perfection.

This is what makes him an outstanding warrior. A cut above the rest, even among the already excellent Um der Ritter or White Knights.

Shin Seijuro is always seeking perfection.

The trouble is that perfection is hard to measure. There is no instrument for it. No guide. No manual. One could say that the easiest way to measure perfection is in battle. In the purity of battle, the simplest way to measure perfection is boiled down to the simple fact of whether you are standing victorious in the end.

This is what happened during the morning after the encounter with Agon Kongo and Shin's words of challenge to Sena.

-0-

"What is it that you want?" Sena stood in front of Shin in the courtyard of their inn. It was early enough that no one was stirring, yet. "I'm not one, you know. A psychic, I mean."

Shin put his gauntlet on. "Make it past me, Sena Kobayakawa. Be able to get past me."

And that's all the bastard said.

Fine. If that's all he would say. Sena bent his knees and looked at Shin preparing himself. He made a half-hearted dash. He received the shock of his life when Shin Seijuro's arm came out of nowhere and hooked him on the stomach and threw him. Threw him five feet back.

At first, all he could do was curl up in pain. Slowly, he heard Shin Seijuro's voice drifting into his ear.

"Stand up, Sena Kobayakawa."

Sena, with shaking legs, stood up. His knees were shaking. The sound of his panting was very loud inside his gas mask. But he stood up. And decided to throw away the notion of not using his psychic ability. It was stupid, maybe. And reckless. But the pain Sena was feeling now, and the disappointment in Shin Seijuro's words…no, whatever Shin's intention was, Sena didn't need to try and figure that out. He didn't need to play a chess game.

This was a battle.

That was it, pure and simple.

So, Sena knelt and opened his eyes. And opened his eyes, again. And saw the images, like afterimages, ghosts moving across the landscape from him.

He moved.

He was flying again. _What?! What the hell was that?_

He landed on the ground, and dust swirled up and all he could feel was pain in his right arm.

Shin had managed to catch him. Again. Even when he used his psychic ability.

This happened, again and again. Sena would open up his inside eyes, try and pick out from all the afterimages running across a landscape, make a run for it past him, and Shin's arm, like an unforgiving lance would skewer him and he would be thrown back to the ground.

What was worse, was that a crowd had gathered to watch them.

_Why couldn't he avoid Shin? He was a psychic, for God's sake. Why?!_

In the background, he could hear members of the Dӓmon and Um der Ritter were already calling for Shin to stop, for Sena to stop. Juumonji was being held by Togano and Kuroki. Musashi had held a hand out on Kurita's expansive belly. Ikari, one of the knights, was wildly hooting and cheering. Only the presence of the Oberhaupt and Takami, the leader of the knights, kept a fight from breaking out.

Their voices, coming from those masked figures became mocking or accusatory and Sena curled up in pain, fear and confusion.

He felt, more than saw, Shin step near. Sena flinched as Shin's voice broke into his thoughts.

"Sena," Shin stood over him, calling his name harshly. "Do not disgrace yourself. Do not disgrace this field. If you're afraid, if you do not focus on here and right now, then you have no right to be the person who carries everyone's lives in his hand."

It was the longest that Shin had ever talked in his time with the Dämon, perhaps even with the Um der Ritter. Surprise had etched itself in faces around the circle, with varying degrees. The whole circle had fallen silent.

Sena looked up at him stupefied. For Sena, as Shin's words washed over him, it felt as if the field flowed out and all that he could see was a horizon.

Shin was looking down, the gas light behind him framing his head in a halo. He shook his head and started to move away.

Sena's hand shot out.

Shin looked back down in surprise to see Sena looking up at him, resolutely.

"Once more." Sena said. "Let me try once more."

Sena stood up, brushed off his clothes, and fixed his gas mask. He went back to the line and leaned forward, placing his hands on his bent knees.

Shin simply stood in front of him.

Sena's breathing slowed. Inhale. Exhale.

He saw.

They look like ghosts. After impressions. Wisps. Many Senas. Many Shins. Many crowds of Um der Ritter and Dämonen.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Moving left. Moving right. Slipping underneath. Flying overhead. The darkness receded and a bright light came from the horizon

He put away his fear. He put away the pain. He put away the confusion.

And this time, he didn't need to pick out from any of the wisps. All the wisps just disappeared until the path he needed to take became clear.

He ran.

Shin's arm reached out for him.

And Sena became a ghost. An afterimage himself.

Shin stopped as Sena's image flowed past him. His eyes widening. His breath flowing out as he stopped.

_Perfection that he couldn't quite reach._

There was loud screaming and cheering in the background. Sena was being hoisted up by their teammates and even by some of the Um der Ritter knights, while Ikari's mouth hung open, still in shock of what they all saw.

A mouse defeating a lion. A robin defeating an eagle.

-0-

Nobody saw the smile of satisfaction that the Oberhaupt had as he watched the end of the fight, and the screams erupted around them.

"Stop being so smug." The Vater said beside him. Her voice was strained.

"Who's being smug?" The Oberhaupt said, cackling, "Why? Because Mother Superior beside me has managed to restrain herself from stopping her little child get into a fight?"

"No," The Vater shot him a look, her arched eyebrows visible in her face-dome. "That's not what you're being smug about. And while you're right that I'm not pleased about the fight. I understand why he needs to do it. No, I'm telling you to stop being so smug about having your ace in the hole for the tournament."

The Oberhaupt cackled again. "Do you really understand why Sena has to get beat up? Or were you just trusting me?"

The unfortunate openness of the Vater's face-dome meant that she could not hide the blush that stole into her cheeks. "Well, you can play your game now, Oberhaupt."

The Oberhaupt smiled once again, from inside his mask. "Indeed. Indeed, I can."

-0-

Understand this, Shin Seijuro seeks perfection.

This is what makes him an outstanding warrior. A cut above the rest, even among the already excellent Um der Ritter or White Knights.

Shin Seijuro is always seeking perfection.

The trouble is that perfection is hard to measure. There is no instrument for it. No guide. No manual. One could say that the easiest way to measure perfection is in battle. In the purity of battle, the simplest way to measure perfection is boiled down to the simple fact of whether you are standing victorious in the end.

What no one says, of course, is that love and desire is often a battle.

This is what happened in the evening after the fight of Sena and Shin:

-0-

Sena Kobayakawa received another shock of his life when Shin Seijuro sought him in his room that night.

"Th-thank you." He said as he awkwardly stood in his small bedroom. Shin was filling up all the space in his little room, and Sena was feeling a little bit claustrophobic.

"For what?" Shin said, frowning down at him.

"For…" _inspiring him? Waking him up? Making him want to be a better minesweeper? A better psychic? _Sena shrugged. "I guess if I say thanks for beating the shit out of me, that would just sound like I was one of those people from the perverted plays they put up in the red-light district."

"I was beaten," Shin began, "because there was a chink in my armor, a gap in my spirit. With these pampered hands," he lifted his hands, palms up, "I was not able to catch you."

Sena laughed. "Only in the end, right, Shin?"

And when Shin looked up at Sena, Sena had difficulty swallowing at the look in Shin's eyes. They were dark, pupils large, as if he was seeing Sena, not standing still, but whirling away, a ghost who swept past his grasp.

"I…may not be able to catch you in the future."

Sena shook his head as he came near Shin and held his forearms, the muscles bunching up under his hands. "Hey, I thought I was supposed to be the psy—"

Sena's words were cut off as Shin caught his mouth and kissed him.

It seemed it was all surprises that day.

Sena staggered back. "What was that for?" He said, shocked, even as he tried to hide the painful erection in his pants.

Shin paused. Opened his mouth. Closed it again. Opened it again. Then, he shook his head. "I don't know. I just know that my eyes will be trained on you now. I will see if I can catch your 'ghost.'"

And he came and caught Sena's mouth once more.

And this time, Sena was still as he kissed Shin back. Tentatively. Then more surely.

Shin was not the type of guy who indulged himself in his desire and want. Above all, he sought perfection. And victory in battle is the simplest way to measure it. And victory in battle is achieved by discipline and training.

Perhaps, this was why he had not been involved in love or sex affairs with men or women. But this. While there was desire in this, this also felt similar to a battle. To a reach for perfection.

And so, as methodically as he trained for battle, he had sex with Sena.

His hands smoothing over Sena's body again and again. His mouth sucking on Sena's nipples. Pleasuring Sena's ass, squeezing oil over it and slipping fingers in until Sena was panting.

Then finally, rocking Sena as he slipped his penis inside Sena's tight hole. They were both sitting up as Shin rocked him, as steadily as he did his push-ups.

He made Sena come again and again. And in the end, as he came, Shin wasn't sure why this felt like a battle, why this was a reach for perfection. But he was simple-minded. He was a physical person. He recognized people by their muscles. And he listened to his instinct.

And his instinct told him that this was so, a battle.

And it had just begun.

-0-

Bombe Entschärfung Turnier – the Minesweeping Tournament – opened up with all the pomp and circumstance that one could imagine.

A large coliseum. Bright spot lights. Crowds that filled that stands to the brim.

All the contenders, standing in rows, with their pennants waving in the underground breeze.

Long-winded speeches. Music. Applause.

The tournament would be a test of teamwork, defense and strategy. For a team to qualify, 100 points needed to be gathered. Defeating one puzzle-lock was one point. Finding energy source was 10 points. Defeating the Ultimate Puzzle-lock was 100 points and finding the Quelle was another 100 points. A team could steal another team's energy source, if they were resourceful enough to do so, or if they were vicious enough to do so.

Then, it really began.

-0-

All throughout, as teams were boarding the large minecarts into the Abyss, the current Schergen des Gottes felt their unease spread.

The Oberhaupt had not yet appeared.

They were one of the last teams to go down.

It was only with the appearance of one of their stocky trainers, Doboroku that the whispering unease somewhat abated.

The news was not good.

The Vatikan had been keeping everything hushed up. But Spiral City down in the South was being attacked. A man named Iemetsu in transforming the city's people into monsters. Spiral City residents were in a fight for their lives.

"We should help them, not be in this stupid tournament," Sakuraba said angrily.

Shogun shot him an angry glance, "be quiet!"

Doboroku simply drank from his canteena, "Well, we cannot do anything now. But the Oberhaupt and the Vater are doing their best to help our allies over there. We have our own fight here. We need to have two co-captains to lead the charge in our own tournament. One who knows the Um der Ritter and one who knows the Dӓmon. And both have to be able to work together well."

Takami raised his hand, "As a former captain, it seems pretty clear to me that Sena Kobayakawa and Shin Seijuro can fit the bill."

There were _ayes _all around.

Shin and Sena looked at each other. And people could see it, they seemed in sync. Communicating with one another, even without words.

"Let us fight our own battle, then." Shin said.

-0-

The End of Chapter 4


	5. Chapter 5

AN:

_MINESWEEPING VOCABULARY:_

_Automaton__: Man-made machines that can perform complicated calculations, even human tasks. There are many, many types of Automatons, and new ones even mimic human form and motion. The Puzzle-locks are said to be regulated by Automatons._

_Bombe Entschärfung Turnier_: The Minesweeping Tournament. A mysterious move by the Vatikan.

_D__ӓ__mon_: The secret name of the current minesweepers, or the Schergen des Gottes.

_Decoder_: The ones who solve the puzzle-locks.

_Drachen__: A military unit formed by the Vatikan. They have been ordered to join __Bombe Entschärfung Turnier.__ Purpose yet to be revealed. _

_Ingenieur: __Scholarly historians who have studied records of the Old City and extrapolate the presence of the Doors. They are also puzzle-lock solvers, or Decoders. Example is Yukimitsu._

_Oberhaupt:_ Captain (Hiruma)

_Um der Ritter_: The White Knights, the police of Abaddon

_Quelle_: A mythical energy source that lies in the dark belly of the Old City, guarded by puzzle-locks that are rigged to explode if not solved properly.

_Schergen des Gottes:_ The Hand of God, the minesweepers, originally had the nickname of Dämon. A unit of the Um der Ritter was added to them, under Hiruma's direction. Now, may have more arms from other parts of the Vatikan military that will be directly under the Vatikan, pending the Minesweeping Tournament.

_Schild_: The ones who protect the decoders and who act as walls or shields from explosions.

_Sucher__: Seeker of the Doors. Often plucked from the streets, as it is often the street children who have also explored the Old City. Finds the Doors through intuition, from previous experience. Also puzzle-lock solver or Decoder. Example is Monta. _

_Vater:_ Priest/ess (Mamori)

_Vatikan:_ The state and the church of Abaddon

-0-

**Chapter 5: Wherein another disaster strikes. Wherein Sena sees a terrible future. Wherein unknown creatures attack the current Schergen des Gottes. Wherein the current Schergen des Gottes become separated in the attack. Wherein Sena must descend into the dark. **

-0-

They descended into the darkness.

Musashi drove the modified mine car that was taking them further into the Old City, deep into the Abyss, simply pushing a lever forward to keep them going forward. It rumbled and jolted underneath them. Their platoon – 22 strong with both Dӓmon and Um der Ritter – were strangely quiet. As if all of the members of the current standard-bearer of Schergen des Gottes could feel the menace in the shadows. Because as any minesweeper worth their salt will tell you, the darkness is alive. The dark now seemed to swallow them up, with no intention of spitting them out again.

It seemed like an endless ride, punctuated by the repeating lights of the mile lamp. With every moment, the silence growing deeper.

Static sounded in Sena's earpiece, his communication radio lighting up. "There's something wrong." Yukimitsu murmured.

Sena swung his head towards the other Decoder, seated in the back.

Shin touched his arm lightly, questioningly.

Sena held up two fingers at Shin, the communication line that Yukimitsu had used with him, and pointed to the radio.

Shin held up his radio. Broken.

Of course. Shin and his legendary bad luck with anything that was a device. He leaned over to Shin and whispered, "Yukimitsu said something's wrong."

Sena pressed his own radio. "Yukimistu, I'm speaking to Shin now. What do you think is going wrong?"

Static came back in his ear, almost drowned out by another jolt in the mine car. "It's too quiet, Sena. This is a tournament for minesweepers. I would have thought we'd be feeling vibrations from blasts. Not everyone is that lucky. Or that good."

Sena looked up at Shin, "He says it's too quiet."

Shin held his eyes for a moment, nodding. For a moment, Sena felt ice slide down his spine. Shin had already known something was wrong. Shin glanced back at Takami, who had been looking at them. He raised two fingers, and pointed at his broken radio. Takami pressed on his radio.

Static came onto Sena's ear. "So, Sena, any of the Oberhaupt's scenarios going to play out?" Takami said.

"Negative," Sena murmured. "We may have a scenario we haven't prepared for."

Yukimitsu spoke, voice sounding tinny, "Takami, there's no noise at all. I'm not sure what could have happened, but with as many teams sweeping mines in the Abyss, even as big as it is, we should be hearing vibrations. We should call the tournament officials on radio."

"We don't have a basis, Yukimistu. I don't disagree with you, but not hearing anything would not be considered sufficient evidence for us to call for help. There should have been medics on the tournament grounds."

Shin leaned into Sena, "Tell them that the knights should not work as Schilds for now, but expect to fight. Protecting the squad they've been assigned to."

Sena nodded, "Takami, Yukimitsu, Shin is suggesting that we create a plan now to have the knights be prepared to fight and protect the squad they've been assigned to, overriding their task to shield Decoders."

Takami's voice came on, "Agreed. Assign vanguard and flank watches. Let's sweep the landing area for now and make sure it's not just us getting jumpy at shadows."

"All right," Yukimitsu said, reluctance, clear even over radio.

By now, the rest of the platoon was uneasily watching their conversation.

Sena opened up the line to everyone. "Schergen des Gottes. Ingenieur Yukimistu, Acting Co-Captain Schild Shin, and Schild Takami, are advising changing conditions at site arrival. In preparation for these changing conditions at the site, we're assigning all Um der Ritter to change positions from Schilds to vanguard and flank watches for each squad. Put away your bomb blast gear and ready your weapons. We're not sure what to expect when we arrive, but we there's something going on. We're not hearing any other teams. We'll be sweeping the landing area to check it out, and if there's nothing to be concerned about, we'll continue with the tournament mission. If there is cause for worry, we'll be getting in touch with the tournament officials."

"Yeah, with all due respect, to hell with all the bombing, I'm ready to fight it out." Ikari said.

There were grim nods all around.

And almost suddenly, the mining car screeched and jolted to an ear-piercing stop.

The darkness was filled with the confused and angry voices of the Dӓmon and the knights.

"SILENCE." Shin's voice pierced through all the cries, and all the members quieted down. "Squad Kobayakawa, gear up. We're going to check the tracks to see what stopped us. Ingenieur Yukimitsu, attempt to contact the tournament officials."

"Aha-ha, the special ones are the ones to do the job," Taki cried out. Gushiken rolled his eyes, but said nothing.

The eight members of Sena's squad picked up their gear or weapons: Sena, Juumonji, Shin, Gushiken, Ishimaru, Taki, and Ichimaru and Niishu, the angelic-looking twins of the Um der Ritter. Meanwhile, Yukimitsu started to establish communication with tournament headquarters.

There were soft thuds of the first squad landing on the ground by the tracks. Lights from lanterns shot beams of white light into their surroundings.

At first, all that Sena could make out were rocks,S stalagmites, stalactites jutting down and up, like jagged teeth. Then rock fragments, and then finally, the ancient track that had been laid down long ago. There were bats that screeched as the light went upward, and there were wings that flapped and disappeared. A sense of foreboding began to creep over Sena.

The squad members surrounded the modified mine cart, bending down, looking at the gears and wheels of the huge cart, or looking at the tracks. There were cries from the twins.

They came over the comms, "Sena! We got it."

Sena came around the corner of the mine cart, looking for the twins, and he found them, by the front of the cart. He stopped as a vision, so strong, that he couldn't breathe for a moment, swept over him.

He saw, not the twins as they were now, alive and healthy, but their ghostly corpses, standing in their place. Flesh peeled, necks broken, limbs torn and missing. Sena's eyes helplessly moved to look up at the rest of the Schergen des Gottes, and the ghosts that appeared to him were not the many ghosts of themselves, they were not the many versions of themselves streaming through time, but a standstill platoon of death, of corpses rotting where they stood.

Reality returned, and there were just the twins again, standing in front of the wheels of the cart grinding against a stone that had been wedged into the tracks. The front right wheel was insistently scratching against the rock, giving off sparks, attempting to turn.

The other members of his squad had come around, as well, at the cries of the twins.

"That's strange," Juumonji said over the comm, "who would have thought a rock could stop this thing," he tapped on the modified mine cart.

"Yeah, I see what's the problem." Sena said casually. "SQUAD KOBAYAKAWA," he said raising his voice. "Saddle up and return to the cart!" The members of his squad started, looking at one another, giving him a strange look.

Sena nudged at them, "I think I can just have Musashi reverse the cart, I'll take out the stone, then, and we can be on our way. Shin, go back in and let Musashi know to reverse the cart for a bit. Go on everyone, go on."

Gushiken, the twins, Taki, and Ishimaru began to volt over the side of the cart again, but Juumonji took another push. Shin was the most stubborn. Finally, Sena had to call out to Musashi himself and explain the plan, clinging to the outside of the cart, his feet finding bare purchase on the screws on the outside of the cart, before Shin also went over. While Sena was perched in the cart, he had Sakuraba hand him a tool to wedge out the stone.

"Okay, great," Sena said, "Musashi, on my signal, okay?"

Musashi began to grind the lever back to back up the mine cart as Sena nodded. Then, before anyone could blink, Sena lunged and pushed the lever all the way back, and jammed the tool in. He jumped back out at their cries, as the cart began to rumble fast, going backward.

Just in time, as huge flapping wings (in no way bat wings) were lit by the disordered beams of light from their lanterns, trying to swoop down on the cart. The cries of confusion, became cries of anger, cries of fear.

Sena popped out one of his minesweeper's tools then, a little device that provided the effect every Decoder, every minesweeper hoped to avoid, but carried in their pockets, anyway. He twisted the top, and threw it out before him.

There was a tiny explosion. The creatures swooping on the cart, horrific creatures that were made all the more horrific by the almost-human faces, flew up and looked at Sena, his outline lonely in midst of the small explosion, yelling and waving his arms.

They decided to leave the accelerating cart alone. All of them came for him.

-0-

Sena ran.

And descended into the darkness.

He ran down a dark corridor, lamp flickering in his hand, terror making his heart beat wildly. Behind him, he could hear the faint beat of the wings those creatures with almost-human faces. And his own jagged breathing, he could hear his own terrified hitch of inhale and exhale. He ran into a jutting stalagmite, and his lamp went out. He stumbled, and managed to stop himself from crying out, or perhaps his throat had just constricted enough from fear that it would not let any sound out.

He was doubled over, his body in a crevice, when he heard them. He froze, afraid to even breathe. For some reason, through the patter of their feet, and the sound of their wings softly folding, he knew they could not see him in the dark.

He was half-crouched in the crevice of that dark tunnel, half hidden behind the stalagmite that he stumbled over. He trembled, and his hand was fisted against his chest, his heart thudding. He felt them passing, felt the rush of a claw sweeping above his head. And he thought:

_They were going to hear him. They were going to hear him. They were going to hear him. They were going to hear him. They were going to hear him. Hear him. Hear him. Hear him. Hear him. Hear him. Hear him._ _Hear him. Hear him hear him hear him hearhimhearhimhearhimhearhearhearhearhear…_

_SENA!_

Was it his psychic power, snapping him awake? Sena pulled himself together. In the dark, he realized that there were no more noises. He stumbled out of the crevice, his hand shaking, his vision turning funny, he struck a light by feel, and his hand made the light beam of his lamp go all over the place. He was afraid that they were still there, of course, but Sena was sure that if he stayed in the dark, he would go crazy.

With the light turned on, he calmed down somewhat. Although his hand still shook, and he still felt himself trembling.

_Now what?_

He didn't really have a plan beyond keeping his mates safe. That was all in that was in his head. But now that he was here in the dark, in a tunnel, and he had more space to think, he wasn't sure what to do now. He took a deep breath, and told himself to stop and to think.

There were creatures in the Abyss. Strange creatures. The first question was, of course, where did the creatures come from? They had tunneled in the Abyss, and although, they had many stories, and minesweepers had many myths and legends of what exactly you found in the dark, they had never yet encountered those winged things with human-like faces.

A groan rose and echoed in the tunnel, shaking even the loose rocks near his feet. It made Sena tremble.

He had to squeeze the handle in the light, trying to keep his fear under control. Those creatures, they must have come somewhere. Maybe, they were the reason that they couldn't hear the other minesweeping teams. So, perhaps, Yukimistu would be able to tell the officials of what was happening. They would probably send military units down to the Abyss to help rescue them. In the meantime…in the meantime, though, the other minesweeping teams must be fighting off the creatures. There might be teams that needed his help seeing them before those creatures attack.

Sena stood, heart still throbbing. He could go out. He could try to escape the Abyss and those creatures. And he might have. Before Shin had discovered him, and had tested him, he would have run away.

But now…now, he'd met Shin. Shin's words came back to Sena: _if you're afraid…if you cannot focus on here and now, then you have no right to carry everyone's lives in your hand. _Sena took a shuddering breath. He was afraid, yes. But there were people who might be dying if he did not face his fear and help them. He had to see if there were survivors. Had to see if there were. Even though he was scared out of his mind. Even though he was coward, there were people who might need help. They were probably not far from the drop off point. All he had to do was make it to the drop-off point, and he could do that by following the tracks.

At the edge of his vision, he saw something moving beyond the darkness. Hurriedly, he turned off his light and started to go back the way he came, looking for the tracks of the mine carts. And in the dark, he could hear them—

_Hear them. Hear them. Hear them. Hear them. Hear them. Hear them. Hear them. Hear them. Hear them. Hear them. Hear them. Hear them. Hear them. Hear. Hear. Hear. Hear. Hear. Hear. Hear. Hearhearhearhearhearhear—_

_STOP! _Sena shook himself, _STOP SENA! _He walked through the dark, trying to hold on to the thought that there others who needed his help. There were others. Who. Needed. His. Help.OthersWhoNeededHisHelp. _A_ sheen of sweat was covering his forehead. His vision was becoming funny again, as if the rocks were contracting and expanding. There were things growling in the dark. He could hear the voices, he could hear those sly voices, he could hear them growling, he could _feel them now. Coming. He could hear them …hearhearhearhearhearhearhearhearhearhearhearhearh earhearhearhearhearheahearhearhear._

In the dark, something reached for Sena.

-0-

End of Chapter 5


	6. Chapter 6

AN: My many, many thanks for your patience. I know, know, that my work is suffering right now from a long hiatus. No more promises and excuses. I'll just freaking do it.

-0-

**Chapter 6: Wherein Sena dreams. Wherein the ugly truth of the Vatikan is uncovered. Wherein Shin feels something new.**

"Is it natural to have rich and poor? To have hundreds and thousands barely able to live, while a vaunted few enjoy luxuries that soon seem extremely necessary to one's every day life? Is it an inevitable circumstance, the hand of God, destiny, fate, simply the way the world is and has always been, and always will be, or…

…is it conditions that have not yet been understood?

Why is it that he who gives food to the poor is called a saint, but one who asks why the poor have no food is called a deviant devil?

In the dark, the truth will whisper to you his secrets."

-Heinrich Raxm, Philosopher of Abbaddon. Rabble-rouser and Heretic, according to the Vatikan.

-0-

_It seemed as if a long length of time had passed. As if days had rolled into weeks; and weeks into months; and months into years. When Sena opened his eyes, his vision was funny. It was as if he had put on goggles that skewed the edges of his sight, and focused it only at the center of his vision._

_Let us begin._

_There was a woman. She smiled sweetly at him. And Sena knew somehow that this woman smiling at him was his wife. _

But I never got married_, he thought, somewhere in his head._

_A little child runs to the woman, and she catches him, and swings him high, laughing. And Sena can feel himself thinking, in another part of his head, that this life was not perfect, but that he was happy. Because of these two. _

_Sena is not moving himself, but his vision suggests that he's walking to the woman and child, who are looking at him. He puts his arms around them, and for some reason, Sena knows that he, himself, is laughing, although he cannot see this from the vision. _

_He catches sight of himself with his wife and son in a hazy, dirty mirror, hung up on the wall of his home. And it is not Sena's face there._

_It is an older man's face. Handsome and bearded. But not Sena's face. A thought floats up in Sena's head. His name was Onihei. That's right. He shouldn't get confused. Onihei. He was a respected hunter. Onihei. And he had a beautiful wife and child. In fact, he had bought his wife the hazy mirror, because he wanted her to have something to show her how beautiful she was. Especially like now, as she smiled up at him. Especially now, as she held their child in her strong arms. _

_Then the expression on the woman's and child's face changes. They are looking behind him. First, in confusion._

_Then, finally, into masks of terror. Their expressions, frozen rictuses that changed their faces, disfigured them, and made them look unrecognizable. _

_Sena, the dread and horror already welling up within, turned around. _

_His vision was funny. The edges were all skewed lines, and the center was in focus. As if he was looking through lenses of a telescope this entire time, but focused on people._

_And he saw death._

_And it goes dark._

-0-

Flashing lights appear.

Darkness.

Then the swing of beams of light, like lanterns, perhaps being swung around in the darkness.

There is a consistent motion in the lanterns. To and fro. To and fro. There and back. There and back.

Sena hears grunting.

There is a sound of flesh being torn from bone. Of teeth grinding from somewhere above him.

Chunks of meat of falling to the stony ground.

Among the chunks of meat, is a digit. A finger.

Sena thinks, with some detachment, that it is cold. Wherever he is.

But Sena does not feel the cold.

Sena is too sleepy to feel the cold.

He descends into the dark.

-0-

_How long has it been?_

_When Sena opened his eyes, there was that peculiar vision plaguing him once more. As if he was looking through lenses. Skewed edges, he cannot see the periphery. Merely what's right in front of him. _

_He was encased in a glass coffin. It was expensive, the glass. And he could see his face in it. Floating in yellowish liquid_

_Onihei. Right, he should not get confused. His name was Onihei. He began to struggle. He looked down, and realized that there were tubes running out of from all over his body. All over his hands, and feet, and legs. What was this? What happened to them? _

_Onihei began to struggle, but he could not seem to break free of the tubes in his feet and the ones on his hand had barely loosened. The tubes also hurt. They hurt. That would not stop him, however. Onihei continued to struggle, wrenching his hands left and right. He breathed in and out. And with a wrench, and a cry, he freed his hands from the tubes blood sprayed, suspending scarlet drops in the yellowish liquid. _

_He banged on the glass door. _ Let me out! _He screamed, but a mask covered his face and his cries. And the yellowish liquid muffled sound. _

_Onihei screamed and screamed, pounding on the class door. But when he drew a ragged breath in, falling silent, his eyes finally adjusted to the dark and he made out what were the silhouettes in the shadows of the bright light outside._

_They were coffins. Like his own. They were all suspended glass coffins with soft light illuminating the water. Inside were people, floating as he did, soundlessly sleeping, anonymous behind their masks. All the glass coffins seemed to be suspended from the beams above that branched from a central circular column that was incredibly bright with light. _

_Faintly, sound began to come through the coffin, as well. There were vibrations. Onihei could hear the faint sound of panting. And screaming. And of running. Onihei looked down and a new horror filled him. Below, surrounding the central column, were rows upon rows upon rows of large wheels that were spinning, but were held off the ground. He could see that inside the spinning wheels, people were running raggedly. Desperately, as the wheels spun around them. As if they were all being chased. Their heads were encased in some sort of helmet, with a tube coming from the back of the helmet and attached to the center of the spinning wheel. Young and old. Women and men. They all ran in desperation, some crying out, some sobbing, and Onihei, even trapped inside the yellow liquid, could see the blood spatter from their feet. _

_Once in a while, the wheels sparked in electricity. And the central column would glow brighter._

_As if to torment him, his dream as he slept in this glass coffin came to him. He remembered._

_Somewhere below in this cavern, his child and wife were running, as well, each with their own wheels and helmets. He had been making them run. With his own psychic power. He'd been giving them bad dreams so that they would endlessly, endlessly run. Till their feet blistered and bled. Till they died. _

_Onihei screamed once more._

_Although the yellow liquid and his own mask rendered it silent._

-0-

This time, there are no lanterns.

But he can hear. And for some reason, he seems to be moving.

As his eyes adjust to the darkness, Sena realizes this time, that he must be somewhere low to the ground.

But he is still off the ground.

He does not feel the ground, after all. But it's quite near.

For instance, right now, he sees more body parts.

Was that a…leg?

He's close enough to the ground to recognize them.

But not so near, that he can touch them.

Sena couldn't move his own arms, it seemed, anyway.

_But why was that? _

There are cries in the darkness.

His body is moving towards the sound. Although Sena is not moving this body, himself.

It seems he's along for the ride.

Eagerly, from the sound of the pitter-patter of feet.

And here there is some light.

The body pauses, and hides behind some rock.

There are silhouettes.

Sena hears the licking and smacking of the lips.

And the drool slowly dripping into the ground.

He is already so tired. Sena is.

And he drifts once more. Into a blessed abyss.

-0-

_Onihei came to consciousness once more. His wife. His child. _

_He crawled. With a will that could not be stopped, not by the thick glass, or the blood from his stomach being lost. He crawled on the floor on the cold metal. Each slide was punctuated by the crunch of glass on the floor from his own shattered coffin. _

_He could hear the whirr of the spinning wheels, and the moans from the people running in them, running away from something in dreams. _

_Onihei dragged himself across the cold floor. Towards the center of the room, where the large central column lay. _

_He was going to stop this. Stop this hell. _

_Bit by bit, he dragged himself to the central column. _

_Bit by bit, even as he lost blood, Onihei crawled. _

_In his dream, where he shared his mind with all the other psychics held prisoner in the glass coffins, he saw, from their own memories, from the memories of others, where he could destroy this thing._

_Broken as he was, he could still destroy this thing-_

-0-

Sena felt himself being ripped apart.

And just like Onihei, he screamed, and screamed and screamed.

"SENA! SENA!"

And he opened his eyes, and in the light of the dirty lantern, he saw Shin's face, tightly pinched.

"Shin?" He said, confused. Sena felt incredibly weak. "Why are you here? What happened?"

And Shin stared down at him, looking…unsure.

Was it the devil that made him do it?

Sena wasn't sure, but he reached out and touched Shin, and _looked _at what Shin saw_…_

_A monster. It looked wrong. In all ways. In the way it looked. In the way it moved. It looked like it should not have existed at all. But against all reason, it did. An infernal creature that slogged through the darkness, that opened its mouth wide, almost the top half of its head falling backward, rows and rows and rows of teeth shining. And on its stomach, the skin of its distended belly that flopped on the ground was stretching, as hands reached out, and faces pushed against the skin, mouths opening in a wordless cry. One of the faces pushing out was Sena's own…_

Shin flung his hand away. "Enough!" He said roughly. "Enough." He held Sena close, "it is enough that you are alive. It is enough that I got you out."

Shocked, Sena clung to Shin. He caught sight of his hand, bloodied and raw. He had been fused to the monster. The monster who had caught him in the dark, had fused Sena to himself. Fused to the monster who was once a man named Onihei. He began to shudder uncontrollably. Shin held him tighter.

Beyond Shin's shoulder, he could see the rest of the Dӓmon and the knights in full force.

Juumonji appeared, the momentarily blocking the lantern light. "Shin, we have to go. I'm sure the noise has attracted…the other creatures. We need to find safe haven for now."

Sena felt, rather than saw Shin nod. He reached up, and touched Shin's shoulder lightly. "Shin," he said weakly.

Shin looked down at him. And Sena thought that Shin's face looked very strange. But he couldn't say why. Sena put it aside. "Shin, as soon as we find a safe place, I have to tell you all something. I have to tell you all the truth."

Shin opened his mouth, and closed it once more, looking almost…uncertain.

That was it, Sena realized. That's what was strange with Shin's face. This was the first time he had seen the knight look so helpless.

It made the entire trembling stop. For some reason, Sena felt himself become steadier. Because he realized, Shin needed him strong, too.

Shin simply nodded, and he stood. "Let's go."

-0-

-0-

The End of Chapter 6

-0-

_MINESWEEPING GLOSSARY:_

_Automaton__: Man-made machines that can perform complicated calculations, even human tasks. There are many, many types of Automatons, and new ones even mimic human form and motion. The Puzzle-locks are said to be regulated by Automatons._

_Bombe Entschärfung Turnier_: The Minesweeping Tournament. A mysterious move by the Vatikan.

_D__ӓ__mon_: The secret name of the current minesweepers, or the Schergen des Gottes.

_Decoder_: The ones who solve the puzzle-locks.

_Drachen__: A military unit formed by the Vatikan. They have been ordered to join __Bombe Entschärfung Turnier.__ Purpose yet to be revealed. _

_Ingenieur: __Scholarly historians who have studied records of the Old City and extrapolate the presence of the Doors. They are also puzzle-lock solvers, or Decoders. Example is Yukimitsu._

_Oberhaupt:_ Captain (Hiruma)

_Um der Ritter_: The White Knights, the police of Abaddon

_Quelle_: A mythical energy source that lies in the dark belly of the Old City, guarded by puzzle-locks that are rigged to explode if not solved properly.

_Schergen des Gottes:_ The Hand of God, the minesweepers, originally had the nickname of Dämon. A unit of the Um der Ritter was added to them, under Hiruma's direction. Now, may have more arms from other parts of the Vatikan military that will be directly under the Vatikan, pending the Minesweeping Tournament.

_Schild_: The ones who protect the decoders and who act as walls or shields from explosions.

_Sucher__: Seeker of the Doors. Often plucked from the streets, as it is often the street children who have also explored the Old City. Finds the Doors through intuition, from previous experience. Also puzzle-lock solver or Decoder. Example is Monta. _

_Vater:_ Priest/ess (Mamori)

_Vatikan:_ The state and the church of Abaddon

-0-


	7. Chapter 7

-0-

**Chapter 7: Wherein we reverse time and see the Oberhaupt and Vater's youthful days. Wherein we see the Drachen's dark work. Wherein we come to the present as Sena tells a story. **

-0-

_A monster. It looked wrong. In all ways. In the way it looked. In the way it moved. It looked like it should not have existed at all. But against all reason, it did. An infernal creature that slogged through the darkness, that opened its mouth wide, almost the top half of its head falling backward, rows and rows and rows of teeth shining. And on its stomach, the raw and open maw of its distended belly that flopped on the ground was bloody spilling guts, as hands reached out, and Shin reached in with his arm, his foot on the monster's shoulder. _

Hold.

The picture is frozen, the monster frozen, its horrendous mouth open, the hands pushing out of the belly quite still.

Before the creature that was once a man called Onihei met its demise at the hands of Shin Seijuro, let us reverse the reel, moving pictures running backward.

_See Sena go back inside the monster's stomach. See all the skin, blood, and tendons sucked back into a shape of the distended belly, whole once again. See Shin swing his mace back. See him walk back into the dark. See the Dӓmon creep backward, from surrounding the monster in a semi-circle, to going back in a single line. _

Let's reverse faster. _See the monster pull back out food from its mouth. See the monster magically form together torn hands and arms and bodies. See the monster pull Sena from its maw at the tracks. See the monster skulk backward. See the monster vomit out all its food, all people. See monster pull up heads from the ground, forming whole once more. See monster jump backward. See monster pull out body parts from its mouth. Faster and faster, going back three years. See monster become more human. See monster's monstrous belly shrink as it grovels backward. See the monster shrink into a man. See the man sit down in the dark. See the man lie back down in the dark. See the poisonous green liquid flow backward. Above, in the ceiling of the cavernous caves, see a cloud, like a mushroom sucked back and bloom into a flash, and see the flash, the explosion, contract into a bright, bright column of light, while lace-like portrusions held little cocoons of yellow, and below, claws of little wheels where the masks and tubes are empty._

Hold. The picture is frozen. Pay attention as we reverse the reel. This is it:

_See the people with scarves covering their faces, running backward, some carrying women, some carrying children, some hurrying back, supporting people who look weak, emaciated, disoriented, and pale. See the people with scarves put the emaciated men, children and women back, into the wheel contraptions. See the wheels spin again. See the masked men and women climb up the lace-like supports of the cocoons. See the masked men and women put the naked bodies back into the cocoons. See the cocoons close. See all the people in the little wheels connected to the bright, bright column of light, running backward, making the column dimmer, then bright, then dim, once again._

_Among one of these scarf-masked men and women, see the sharp eyes of a man, who had not yet dyed his hair blonde, who had pointy teeth, and more pistols than anyone else. Among one of these scarf-masked men and women, see the angry eyes of a woman who looks normally kind and motherly._ There were many of these men and women, gathered from different cells of the underground movement. And the two of them did not yet meet at this particular incursion. But here they were, freeing those who are in the cocoons and the wheels of the machine.

Hold. The picture is frozen. Do you see? Do you see the man they now call the Oberhaupt of Dӓmon? And the woman they now call Vater Mamori?

-0-

The people (those that they freed and secreted away in the Freedom Trains) called them revolutionaries. But the Vatikan called them demons, who sow terror. The Vatikan called them extremists. Very softly, though, to each other, and to the robber barons. After all, the public knew nothing about the bright columns of light, and the people that hung from it or ran for it.

But they did not originally think of themselves as revolutionaries. Nobody does at the beginning.

The Oberhaupt was, prior to becoming the Oberhaupt of the Dӓmon, simply a very smart young man. But what a smart young man, he was. He could calculate odds at lightning speeds. He beggared the gambling houses doing so.

Smart young men like him could see through the Vatikan like stained church window glass. Abbadonians were mired in their own self-conceit, not seeing that slave labor made them rich. The Vatikan had waged wars in the name of holiness, to win back land for its chosen people, but of course, nobody would mind, if along the way, they happened to use the land for farming, and sold all the crops taking all the profit, while all the natives whom they tricked with their holy words worked the land for a pittance. The Vatikan had waged wars in the name of holiness, even against their own people, picking up heretics and the like and disappearing them to gods-knew-where; and being poor and outspoken made you a heretic, apparently, so that was quite many. And Abbadon prospered. Its citizens felt themselves bloat with how great their city was, how much it was the heart of an empire.

Smart young men like Yoichi Hiruma saw through this. But unlike some of the firebrands in the universities, Yoichi Hiruma was quite, quite materialist. He saw the mountain, saw how deep the problem was, and determined that he would not bet on an outcome with 0% chance of winning. And so, he avoided the firebrands on their soapboxes, preaching liberation, and made a personal fortune with his uncanny, uncanny intelligence.

Until a man with dreadlocks, named Agon Kongo, invited him into a profitable enterprise by the Vatikan that merely needed one thing: for him to decode and unlock a tile grid to find a humongous device the size of a Spiral City hightower, a contraption that could produce enough energy for a city, a column of light, a treasure beyond measure for a city desperate for energy. What Yoichi Hiruma did not count on, when he finally saw the device, was that the device relied on something quite dispensable to the Vatikan. And the best part for the Vatikan? Well, human beings are quite renewable, after all.

When Yoichi Hiruma finally saw how the device worked, there was no longer any question of _not_ becoming involved. He joined the revolution.

-0-

The Vater, prior to becoming a respected Vater in the Vatikan, simply was a young woman who wanted to do good, not be a revolutionary. She wanted to protect the weak and the poor and those without power.

Until she realized that the poor and those without power are powerful in their own right, as they organized labor unions, and neighborhood associations, to care and protect the people. She realized, she did not have to protect the poor; they would fight alongside her, for her liberation was bound up in their own.

She did not think of herself as a revolutionary.

Until the secret police began to follow her friends. Labor union leaders, the spokeswomen and men, the ones who held positions, they and their families would suddenly disappear, become Nacht und Nebel, the disappeared. And then, she found out, she saw, where they were disappearing to, underneath, deep below. She realized that the Vatikan would never give up their power without a fight, for the Vatikan to give up its power so that her friends and the people could live humanely is against the Vatikan's class interest. And so, she joined the revolution.

-0-

-0-

-0-

Ikkyu, a member of the Drachen unit, hummed the song underneath his breath:

_Hear the Drachen softly roar._

_Hear the moaning in the door. _

_Why, my child, it is the Drachen tall._

_Here to take you all. _

_Here to take you all. _

Unsui looked at him stonily. Ikkyu stopped, raised his eyebrows, and shrugged, as if to defend the song. "It is a highly inappropriate song, Ikkyu." Unsui finally said.

Ikkyu laughed, "We do highly inappropriate work, no?" He looked back at the cart containing a coffin. The coffin was made of iron and steel glass, and inside a young woman was imprisoned, made Nacht und Nebel. Disappeared.

Unsui shook his head. "She is a danger to the city, with that uncontrollable telekinesis. At least this way, she is giving her life to a worthy cause."

Ikkyu shrugged. "Well, it's no skin off my shoulder. But it seems a shame to keep collecting them. After all, there hasn't been another one found, yet. Since the destruction of the last."

Behind them, a grating laugh sounded. They stopped and looked behind at Agon who was lying on the cart, to the side of the coffin. "That Dӓmon loser has probably found a Quelle. He's just hiding it from us." He said silkily, the violence glinting in his eyes.

Unsui ignored the waves of killing aura that Agon was exuding, and said, "even if the Oberhaupt of the Dӓmon hides the machine, Bombe _Entschärfung Turnier will eventually turn up what this city needs."_

_Agon grinned in the darkness, "let's hope not. That won't be nearly as much fun."_

-0-

-0-

-0-

The White Knights and the Dӓmonen found shelter in a small, maze-like cave complex with only one opening, high up on a cliff.

They slid open one of the lanterns to the softest volume of white light they could provide back in the deepest part of the cave, almost just a lighter version of shadow. While one pair stood guard at the mouth of the cave, the twenty members of the Schergen des Gottes ranged around Sena, protectively ensconced in Shin's lap.

He had refused to let Sena go. And while one or two looked uncomfortable (or miffed, as Jumonji seemed), it seemed as if it were just an everyday matter for one of the Um der Ritter to cuddle a minesweeper. Then again, Sena had also just been pulled out of a stomach. Perhaps conventions were not so strict in these conditions.

Sena took a deep breath, grateful only for this. While he did not remember so much the time in the monster's stomach, there was still an uneasiness creeping. Of the dark, and of the small space. The cave was just high enough that Shin could stand up, but not much more than that. Ideal, maybe, for safety, but not for his peace of mind. So, he clung openly to Shin as he looked at the waiting and anxious faces around the dim light.

Yukimitsu spoke, breaking the silence. "What did you mean, Sena? Back there, in the…" he faltered, then spoke up again, "you said that you needed to tell us the truth. What did you mean?"

"It has something to do with this tournament, right?" Sakuraba jumped in, from the back, sitting on his haunches

Sena looked up at all of them. "Yes, that and other things. Things about the city, about the Quelle and the energy crisis, and the disappearances, and our mission—" Sena felt Shin's hand and realized he had started speaking faster and faster. He stopped, took a deep breath. Then, he smiled ruefully. "Right now, I may not have the right to ask you to listen to this story. But I ask you to listen. And the first thing that I want to say to you all, is thank you. Thank you for saving me. And, also, sorry. Because I've lied to you all…I…I am a psychic."

There was not so much a stillness, as a soft hush that fell on the group. But there were faces among the group that were nodding, as if confirming a suspicion already formed.

"Well," Ikari said, "We're in this shit storm already, fuck me if I care that you're a psyhic. I'm guessing that's not the main course?"

Sena looked taken aback for a moment, then thought about how he had just been pulled from a stomach not long ago, along with guts, and blood, from an infernal creature, and decided he understood where Ikari was coming from. He shook his head, "Well, this makes it easier, I guess. You're right, Ikari, that's not the main truth that I must share. The other one is about what I saw things while I was in the monster's stomach. Because just as I've lied to you all, the Vatikan has been lying to us."

Takami frowned, "What do you mean, Sena?"

Shin spoke up, "he means that the Quelle was already found."

A stunned silence descended on the group.

"—what do you mean—"

"—that doesn't make sense—"

"—why would we be formed, then, if not—"

"QUIET!" Komusubi whispered furiously. Everyone fell silent once more. Komusibi humphed at Shin to continue.

Shin calmly repeated, "the Quelle has already been found. A long time ago."

Sena shook himself, not even daring to ask yet how Shin could know what he was about to say now. "The Nacht und Nebel. Political dissidents. Supposed extremists. Agitators. And pyschics. All painted as sowed by the devil. But they were being taken away because…" Sena fell silent. Swallowed. "Because the Quelle itself needed them. The Quelle_ wasn't_ a source of energy; it was a machine. It was a machine to make energy."

Among the puzzled faces, there was a dawning horror, a faint understanding of what this would mean.

"The psychics," Sena continued, "were put into…these things that resembled a womb or a cocoon. And they were made to make nightmares and dreams to make people run in the machines, because their motion, their motion created energy. But they were all dreaming, all trapped. All of them. Until they died in the machine, and were replaced with new Nacht und Nebel."

"That's…that's ridiculous." Kuroki said. "That's plainly ridiculous."

Jumonji shushed Kuroki, and others began talking over each other. Arguing, the uneasiness seeping out now in their voices, and angry, flashing eyes. Musashi had compressed his mouth in a tight line. Kurita achieved looking worried and defiant, about ready to yell, when somehow, Monta's voice, not particularly loud, silenced them all again. "My mother was…Nacht und Nebel. She was disappeared when I was 10. I guess she must have died in the Quelle, then?"

It was almost conversational, the way he said it. But something in his voice killed retorts. And the air seemed darker, and heavier somehow.

Sena nodded, feeling his heart heavy. "But that isn't the end. That isn't the end. We, we're also a big part of it. See, there wasn't _just_ one Quelle. There were more in the Abyss. That's why they still formed and kept the minesweepers. That's why the tournament happened." Sena licked his lips, "In the monster, I saw the memories of the psychic who was put into the cocoon. The last Quelle that had been found and unlocked, the last one that the Vatikan had been using to produce energy, it had been destroyed. Destroyed by an underground movement. And now, the Vatikan is becoming desperate."

"Next, you're going to tell us we'll need to still find this other Quelle," muttered Togano.

"No, I wouldn't say that." Sena said, waiting a heartbeat, his face shadowed in the pale, weak light of their lantern. "We need to find all the other Quelles."

The Um der Ritter and the Dӓmon were all united in their shock.

"Are you fucking nuts?" Ikari harshly whispered. "One has already killed how many, and you think we can find all of them? When we don't even know how many they are? And that's not even counting the crazy fucking monsters that apparently are making the Abyss their home. That's just fucking brilliant."

Sena looked up at Shin, who had been silent since his pronouncement. Shin shook his head and said, quite firmly, "We need to find all the other Quelles."

The cursing was colorful, and could have peeled the plaster.

-0-

-0-

-0-

The End of Chapter 7

-0-

_MINESWEEPING GLOSSARY:_

_Automaton: Man-made machines that can perform complicated calculations, even human tasks. There are many, many types of Automatons, and new ones even mimic human form and motion. The Puzzle-locks are said to be regulated by Automatons._

_Bombe Entschärfung Turnier_: The Minesweeping Tournament. A mysterious move by the Vatikan.

_D__ӓ__mon_: The secret name of the current minesweepers, or the Schergen des Gottes.

_Decoder_: The ones who solve the puzzle-locks.

_Drachen: A military unit formed by the Vatikan. They have been ordered to join Bombe Entschärfung Turnier. Purpose yet to be revealed. _

_Ingenieur: Scholarly historians who have studied records of the Old City and extrapolate the presence of the Doors. They are also puzzle-lock solvers, or Decoders. Example is Yukimitsu._

_Oberhaupt:_ Captain (Hiruma)

_Um der Ritter_: The White Knights, the police of Abaddon

_Quelle_: A mythical energy source that lies in the dark belly of the Old City, guarded by puzzle-locks that are rigged to explode if not solved properly.

_Schergen des Gottes:_ The Hand of God, the minesweepers, originally had the nickname of Dämon. A unit of the Um der Ritter was added to them, under Hiruma's direction. Now, may have more arms from other parts of the Vatikan military that will be directly under the Vatikan, pending the Minesweeping Tournament.

_Schild_: The ones who protect the decoders and who act as walls or shields from explosions.

_Sucher: Seeker of the Doors. Often plucked from the streets, as it is often the street children who have also explored the Old City. Finds the Doors through intuition, from previous experience. Also puzzle-lock solver or Decoder. Example is Monta. _

_Vater:_ Priest/ess (Mamori)

_Vatikan:_ The state and the church of Abaddon

_Nacht und Nebel_: Night and Fog in German. Meaning forcibly disappeared. Commonly attributed to political dissidents.


End file.
